


A Reasonable Explanation

by Kitsune_Moonstar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, Babies, Child Abandonment, Diplomacy, Domestic Fluff, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 20:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13348725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Kitsune_Moonstar
Summary: Shiro had rather hoped they were past the point of middle of the night emergency calls.  But duty calls even if it's more diplomatic these days, and late night calls from the hospital were never good.  Though this one might lead to changes for the Shirogane family.





	A Reasonable Explanation

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Voltron Legendary Defender or its characters.

Shiro had rather hoped they were past the point of middle of the night emergency calls.  While technically speaking, both he and Keith were still Paladins of Voltron, these days most of their work was diplomatic more than anything else.  And as they were currently based on Earth, most of that involved arranging visits from various planets and introducing aliens to Earthlings and vice versa.  The last “emergency” that he and Keith had dealt with was figuring out dinner at the last minute when the Earth organization hadn’t read the brief on the alien delegation and the meal they had planned to serve turned out to be poisonous to the alien delegation.

A call from a hospital was never a good thing though, and it didn’t take long for the pair of them to throw on some clothes and drive to the hospital.  The two of them were met at reception by a harried looking administrator.

“I’m sorry to inconvenience you at so late an hour, but we have a situation that could escalate to a diplomatic incident, and Ambassador Tovok has been unreachable.”

Shiro arched an eyebrow at that.  He was pretty sure that the Galra Ambassador to Earth was currently at a conference in Geneva.  Still, if it was serious enough to get him involved, it was probably a good thing they had called him and Keith.

“What exactly is the situation?” Keith asked.

The administrator sighed.  “I’m sure you know that we’re the only hospital in the area that is certified to treat aliens.  We have a number of Galra/human couples expecting babies under our care.  One of them came in tonight in labor.”

“Is the baby all right?” Shiro asked.

“The baby is just fine.  He’s seven pounds, two ounces, and nineteen inches long.   It’s the parents.  Apparently, they’ve both gotten cold feet about having a child that is only half their species.  Sort of.”

Shiro and Keith traded a look.  The woman wrung her hands.

“Mr. Cahn says the baby doesn’t look alien enough.  Ms. Kevra says the baby looks too human.  Both are insisting they want nothing to do with the baby and the other should take him.  Neither has any family that would be willing to take the child from the sounds of it, and because the baby has duel citizenship with Earth and Galra, we aren’t sure how to proceed.”

Shiro let out a sigh.  This was definitely not something that he felt qualified to deal with, but if the ambassador was unavailable, he and Keith were probably the closest thing to an authority that they had.

“Let’s go see the new parents then.”

They heard them before they reached the hospital room, and Shiro didn’t miss the way that Keith’s expression shuttered further.  It was clear that the argument had been going on for a while, and it showed signs of escalating further.   As they walked into the room, he took in the scene.  The young Galra woman was propped up in the bed, her ears pinned back, and practically snarling.  The dark haired man’s color was high and his fists were clenched even as his posture was ramrod straight.

And over in a corner all alone was a small plastic bassinet with a rather wide awake baby wrapped in a grey blanket.  Keith didn’t even hesitate.  He was across the room and cuddling the baby to his chest.  Shiro knew from conversations with Kolivan that Galra babies were extremely tactile and were typically held almost constantly at a young age.  The fact that the mother wasn’t holding the baby was not a good sign.

Since Keith was busy holding the baby, that left Shiro to take the lead in sorting this mess out.

“All right.  I need both of you to take a moment.”

That got everyone’s attention on him, except for Keith who was still focused on the baby.  Kevra’s eyes widened when she recognized just who he was.  Shiro glanced between the two parents.  He let out a sigh.

“If you don’t know who I am, my name is Takashi Shirogane, the Black Paladin of Voltron.  Since the hospital staff was not able to contact Ambassador Tovok, my husband and I were asked to handle this.”  He let that settle in a moment before continuing.  “It’s clear that things did not turn out the way either of you expected.  I’d like both of you to seriously think about what you personally want.  I’m going to talk to you both separately in about thirty minutes, and then together after that.  I’m sure the hospital staff can find a place for Mr. Cahn to sit and think.”

The administrator nodded and gestured to the man.  Once they had left, Shiro turned to Keith.

“Let’s take this little guy down to the nursery so Kevra has some privacy.”

Keith nodded, and the two of them made their way towards the nursery.  Once Shir was sure that they were out of earshot of anyone he asked.  “Are you doing all right?”

Keith sighed and gently stroked the dark fuzz of the baby’s hair.  “I just don’t understand what they thought would happen.  I mean, it’s not like it’s unknown what human/Galra hybrids look like.  I’m not even the only one anymore.  How can they go through an entire pregnancy and then reject their child?”

“I don’t know.”

Keith nodded before his eyes lit up.  “Hey, do you want to hold him?”

Before Shiro could really answer, Keith was already transferring the tiny bundle into Shiro’s arms.  The baby looked ridiculously tiny in comparison, but he was entirely adorable.  And clearly oblivious to the drama going on around him.  Which was really for the best.

“What are we going to do if after further reflection neither of them want him?”  Keith asked.

Shiro bit his lip.  He had  a couple of ideas about that, but it would depend on a couple of things.

“We’ll need them both to sign away their parental rights.  It won’t hurt to check with their families too.  I know from what Kolivan has said if a parent doesn’t want a child, they’re often adopted by other members of the family group.  Beyond that, I don’t know if the Galra have some sort of system for adoption.  We’ll have to check with Tovok about that.  Or…”

“Or?” Prompted Keith.

“We could see if we could adopt him.  I know we talked about waiting a while longer before kids, but–”

“Yes.” Keith cut him off.  “If he needs a home, we can adopt him.”

Shiro and Keith spent the next twenty minutes in the nursery talking with the staff there and getting a run down on infant care.  And taking turns holding the baby.  The pair of them probably looked a little odd, two guys in their twenties with matching undercuts and looking like they’d come from the gym holding a tiny baby.  The nurses seemed amused more than anything else by them.

It was with some reluctance that they left the baby in the nursery to go talk with the parents once again.  Shiro once again took the lead.  He had no idea if Kevra or Mr. Cahn had any clue that Keith was half Galra himself, but Shiro would prefer not to open up his husband to that line of attack.  He was hoping that since both of the parents had had some time to think, they would be a little calmer and more reasonable now.

They started with Mr. Cahn.  It didn’t take long to find the waiting room he had been stuck in.

“Mr. Cahn, have you come to any decisions?”

The man nodded.  “I have.  I stand by my decision.  I don’t want the baby.”

“You’re willing to sign away all parental rights?”

“Yes.  Just get the paperwork.”

“And you don’t have any family who might want the child?”

He shook his head.  “No.  I’m an only child, and my parents passed away years ago.”

“All right.  I’ll make sure you get the paperwork.”  Shiro gave him a long hard look.  “This is your last chance to change your mind.”

“I’m sure.”

Shiro wasn’t sure what else to say to that, so he turned and headed out of the room.  That was one parent down.  One more to speak with.  Keith’s communicator beeped.

“Looks like someone finally got a hold of Tovok.  I’ll update him while you talk with Kevra.”

The young Galra woman was clearly prepared when he walked in the door.

“I’ve made my decision, Paladin.  There’s no need for any discussion.  I don’t want the child.  And before you ask, none of my family would be interested either.  I’m happy to deal with whatever paperwork you humans insist on.”

“If you’re certain?”

“I am.”

“We’ll have the paperwork to you shortly then.”

Shiro ducked outside the room and let out a sigh.  Keith was waiting for him.

“What did Tovok have to say?”

“Well, he wasn’t entirely surprised.  Apparently, he’s expected something like this might happen.  So the good news is there is a process and paperwork ready at the embassy.  Someone will be bringing them over shortly.”  He ran a hand through his hair.  “Also, I brought up us adopting the baby, and we’re clear on his end at least.  The embassy staffer will also be bringing us the paperwork for that.  We just have to clear things on the Earth side.”

Which hopefully wouldn’t be too hard.  He and Keith had undergone the process to become foster parents if only in case there was ever an orphaned alien that might need temporary care.  They’d talked about adopting themselves at some point, but it had seemed like something far off in the future at that point.

“Well, it seems like we’ll have a clear field to adopt the baby if we’re sure that’s what we want to do.”

“I’m sure, Takashi.”

Shiro smiled.  “Me too.”

It was another forty-eight hours before everything was actually resolved, and Shiro and Keith had ended up making a trip or two home in that time.  Part of Shiro was a little appalled at how quickly the Earth side of the adoption was pushed through, but now watching Keith hold the newly named Ryuusai Shirogane, he couldn’t be too upset by it all.

They would be taking Ryuusai home within the hour.  During one of their quick trips home, he and Keith and bought a bassinet and a few other essentials, so Ryuusai wouldn’t be coming home to a completely unprepared home.  Shiro still wasn’t entirely happy about late night calls, but this one had turned out to be more than worth it.


End file.
